Dollar Rent A Car has become a member of America West's frequent flyer program, FlightFund. Members will receive 1,000 miles for every car rented, with an extra 500 miles for each car rented between Jan. 15 and March 31.
Delta said yesterday its four Connection carriers will meet Part 121 training requirements voluntarily this year, in advance of federal regulations requiring them to do so. Delta and the carriers - Atlantic Southeast, Business Express, Comair Holdings and SkyWest - will engage in a shared safety program and will implement crew resource management and safety management procedures this year, reflecting National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations on commuter safety last year.
FAA thinks 1994 statistics will show that the accident rate per 100,000 departures was 0.25 for Part 121 operators and 0.35 for commuters. In terms of the number of accidents, the agency says last year was the commuter industry's safest ever.
Moody's Investors Service has withdrawn its Prime-1 rating on Australian Airlines Ltd.'s commercial paper because the company has ceased issuing commercial paper, no commercial paper is outstanding and the company has no intention of issuing commercial paper in the future. Australian Airlines Ltd. is a subsidiary of Qantas Airways, which acquired Australian in September 1992 and has since merged the airline's operations into its own.
Sprint and five foreign carriers have agreed on a Sprint Worldwide Travel Rewards program that will allow members to redeem immediately miles earned for cash certificates good for all or part of an international fare. Air France, Air India, LOT Polish Airlines, Mexicana and Virgin Atlantic are participating in the program. Sprint said there are no time restrictions on earning rewards. Sprint Worldwide callers will earn 10 miles for every long-distance dollar spent, and an introductory bonus of 1,000 miles is being offered.
Jetstream 31 that crashed A Jetstream 31 that crashed Dec. 1, 1993, near Hibbing, Minn., was operated by Express II Airlines. The operator was incorrectly identified Jan. 6 in The DAILY.
More than 150 aviation, travel and aerospace industry companies and organizations wrote President Clinton yesterday supporting extension of the airline industry's exemption from the 4.3-cents-per-gallon transportation fuels tax. The airlines' two-year exemption expires Oct. 1 under current law, and the Air Transport Association, campaigning for an extended or permanent exemption, estimates that the tax would cost airlines $527 million per year. ATA President James Landry reported "some positive signals from Capitol Hill" in the anti-tax effort.
FAA Administrator David Hinson told DOT's Aviation Safety Conference in Washington yesterday that he wants to shift from "after-the-fact analysis and reaction" to "anticipatory analysis and proscription" in attempts to prevent air crashes. Trying to anticipate and prevent accidents could force major changes in the way airlines operate, with far- reaching economic consequences, several industry executives told The DAILY.
United will hire 80 pilots a month for the "foreseeable future," adding at least 600 cockpit crew this year, to cover an expected 350 retirements, delivery of 777s and A320s, and increased flying due to Shuttle by United. American's Allied Pilots Association unit, with more than 600 on furlough, has told members they may find employment at United, but United's Air Line Pilots Association unit says ALPA members are being interviewed on a faster track.
FAA has commissioned at Memphis Airport its second terminal Doppler weather radar (TDWR), for use by controllers to increase safety and reduce weather-related delays. The first TDWR was commissioned last July at Houston Intercontinental Airport. TDWR detects microbursts and gust fronts, predicts wind shifts and provides data on precipitation intensity. Wind shear warnings from controllers will include the runway affected, type of wind shear, and its strength and location along the runway. Raytheon received a contract for 47 TDWRs in November 1988.
Galileo Canada has signed a preferred supplier agreement with GIANTS, Canada's largest retail travel agency consortium, the computer reservations system company said. "We are extremely pleased with the terms of our agreement with Galileo Canada," said David Lee, executive director of GIANTS Travel Ltd. "In the face of rising costs and narrower margins, it's gratifying to be able to present our membership with true savings in the area of automation." Galileo Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada.
AirTran Airways is adding nonstop service between Cincinnati and Orlando Feb. 22, offering four weekly flights using 128-passenger 737 aircraft. Fares range from $99 to $149 each way.
TWA's frequent flyer program members may donate their miles to Operation Liftoff, a program founded 12 years ago by a TWA employee to provide transportation for medical reasons or vacations to children with life-threatening diseases. Passengers may donate their miles through a program that lasts until March 31. TWA has contributed 500,000 miles and will match all donations made by frequent flyers. Operation Liftoff volunteers, mostly TWA employees, gave 41 children and their families free flights in 1994.
Worldspan has signed an agreement with Vacation Express to add the Atlanta- based tour operator to Worldspan TourSource, the computer reservations system's electronic tour and vacation booking system for travel agents. Vacation Express's full product line will be online in TourSource by mid- 1995
Airbus Industrie yesterday attributed a slight lag in 1994 deliveries - 123 aircraft to 35 customers, down from the 130 forecast at the beginning of the year - to "a delay in bringing the A330 Pratt&Whitney version to its committed contractual specifications." Revenue for the year was $8.5 billion, "marginally below that of 1993." Airbus Industrie said it received 125 firm orders valued at $9.1 billion in 1994 compared with 38 the previous year.
DOT is soliciting comments to its code-sharing study, issued Dec. 29. Due by Jan. 20, the comments will go into the docket established for the administration's international aviation policy - Docket 49844.
Imperial Airlines has asked for DOT authority to operate charter service between the U.K. and the U.S. via intermediate or beyond points in other countries. The Bermuda-based airline plans to begin operations Jan. 10, using DC-8-52 aircraft. (Dockets 49995&49996)
Sabena surpassed its target for the year by boarding 4.26 million passengers in 1994, an increase of 16.7% over 1993, when it carried 3.65 million. The Belgian airline's goal was four million passengers for the year. Sabena said it experienced traffic gains on routes within Europe and to Africa, the U.S. and Asia.
Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines moves today from Terminal 1 to the new Concourse E in Terminal 2 at Salt Lake City Airport, tripling its gate space from five to 15. SkyWest said the move will reduce walking time to connecting Delta flights by half, and it offers more convenient access from parking garages. About 60% of SkyWest's passengers connect to Delta flights. SkyWest will expand its service to Salt Lake City this spring, after it takes delivery of four 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets.
A federal court judge in Los Angeles yesterday set aside a jury verdict that awarded Litton $1.2 billion in damages in a ring laser gyro patent infringement suit against Honeywell, ruling that Litton's patent was not valid. U.S. District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer found that Litton's patent is unenforceable because it was obtained by "inequitable conduct," and that the technology - a process to coat mirrors used in ring laser gyros for navigation systems - was "obvious" and therefore not eligible to be patented. In its suit, filed in March 1990, Litton Systems Inc.
Proposed revisions of airman medical standards and certification will be the subject of FAA public hearings Jan. 20 at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Jan. 26 at the Radisson Hotel Orlando (Fla.) Airport and Jan. 31 at the Doubletree Suites in Seattle, Wash. For more information, contact Effie Upshaw at 202-267-7626.
SAS Commuter operations are expected to be back to normal today following yesterday's 24-hour pilots strike, which forced the SAS Group unit to cancel all 170 of its daily flights. Contract talks between the union representing SAS Commuter's 200 pilots and company management broke down during the weekend.
Tower Air appointed Robert Mann VP-marketing, services and planning. Mann has been principal of R.W. Mann&Company, an airline and travel industry analysis and consulting firm. Earlier, he was VP of SH&E and held marketing positions with TWA, Pan Am and American.
Power failure at Newark Airport delayed departing flights and left three terminals without power for about three hours yesterday. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said a crew working on an airport monorail ruptured a cable, causing the outage at 8:30 a.m. With emergency power in the tower, air traffic control was not affected.
